Improved motive-power



No 88,767. PATENTED APR. 13, 1869.

J; B. ATWATER.

MOTIVE POWER.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED APR. 13, 1869.

J. B. ATWATEE. MOTIVE POWER,

Mam 56' li titer! s t h h JOHN iBf 'Tw TER, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 88,763, dated April 13, 1869.

IMPROVED Mo'rrvnseowma. I

n mam... to in these Letters P tent and mm; dun am.

To all whom it magconcem 'Be it known that 1, JOHN B. ATWATER, of Chicago,

in the county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and improved Motive-Power; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description thereof, referencebeing had to' the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1, sheet 1, is a perspective view of my im-" proved motive-power mechanism.

Figure 2, sheet 2, is adiametrical section through the motive-power engine, exposing to view its internal construction, and indicating the pistons at the termination of their down-stroke, immediatelyaiter an explosion in the lower chamber. p

Figure 3, sheet 2, 'is a vertical section taken through fig. 2, in the plane indicated by line 3; 3/, showing the two pistons at the termination of their upward stroke,

andjust about to descend by their own' 'gravity Similar letters of reference. indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to-practically employ the force generated by exploding gases in a chamber containing a movable piston, as a means of compressing air to be utilized as a -motive-power for driving enginery, and for other purposes.

- I am awarethat, prior to my invention, engines have been constructed andoperated which derived their motive-power from the alternate explosion of inflammable gases, and explosive compounds, on opposite ends of a piston, but owing to the sudden shocks, and the dangels caused by these explosions, and for other reasons,

I believe such engines have all been abandoned in favor of steam.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe one practical mode of carrying it into eflect.

In the accompanying drawings A represents acylinder, which is .closed by a head,

and

B represents a piston, which is adapted for WOI'Klng up and down in cylinder A, and packed so as not to leak.

The cylinder A may be made of any suitable capacity, and it should be made of a strength commensurate with the force which it is intended to sustain.

Through the centre of the bottom plate B, of cylinder A, passes a pipe, a, which leads off to a gas-generator, as will-be hereinafter explained, and which terminates within said cylinder, in a nozzle, 1), from the sides of which gas is caused to issue beneath the piston, D, when this piston is in the position indicated in fig. 2. 4

, Within the gas pipe a is a valve, a, of suitable construction, which isonly open during the supply of gas to the said cylinder.

B, at its lower end, and left open at its upper end;

' There are also two pipes, O 0, leading into the "cyl- -inder A, through its bottom plate, and provided with suitable valves,e c, which are only open during the introduction of air into said" cylinder by the ascending strokes of the piston -D.

The. pipes O 0 lead to acylinder, H, and form com munications between this cylinder and the cylinder A,

- ibr the purpose ofsupplying the latter with air, t aken from a vacuum-chest, J, as" will be hereinaiter explained.

The cylinderefi is arranged above cylinder A, and should be connected thereto in a very substantial manner, and so that the axes of the two cylinders coincide with each other. v

The two cylinders may be connected together by strong posts, bolted securely, to their heads, or in any other suitable manner.

' Within the cylinder 11 works a solidpiston, G, which is connected to the-piston D,-by a-rod, D 'working through a stufling-box, h, which is applied to the bottom plate of cylinder H, as shown in figs. 2 and 3.

A portion of this piston-rod is hollow, for the purpose of establishing, at certain times, hereinafter described, a communication between the chamber below piston D and the open air, through perforations i, made through the piston-rod,- at or near the termination of its hollow portion.

The openings 4, leading into the hollow portion of the piston-rod, are closed tightly at certain times during the ascent and descent of the pistons, by means of a cylindrical slide-valve, E, which encircles the piston-rod, and may be tightly packed by means of elastic rings, or other well-known packing.

This 'valve E is caused tcclose its openings i at the moment, or just before the pistons reach the termination of their down-strokes, by the bridge I, on the top of the cylinder A, which will arrest said valve, and it is caused to expose said openings 13, just before the pistons reach the termination of their up-stroke, by

' striking the lower ends of studs g,-that depend-from the stufllng -box head h, as shown in fig. 3.

These pins, or studs may be adiustablc lengthwise, for opening the apertures 11 i, in piston rod D at any desired point, during the ascending-strokes of the pistons. I

On top of the cylinder H, and rigidly bolted thereon,is a chamber, P, for receiving compressed air, which is forced into it through an opening provided with a valve, 1t, at-every ascending-strokeof the piston G.

From this chamber the air is conducted oil, as it may be required, through a pipe, S, to which a thlOlk tle-valve may be applied, for regulating the escape of air.

There is also applied to the upper head of cylinder H, a valve, k, opening inward, for supplying this 0 linde-r with air, above the'piston G, at every desce I ngstroke thereof.

The dome, or chamber P, may be provided with a safety-valve, of any suitable description, and a similar valve may be applied to the cylinder A, below the pisston" therein. Gauges, for ascertaining the degree of if desirabie, it may he provided with an inlet-valve, U,

as shown in fig. 3.

1 By reference to fig. -3, it will be seen that two wires,

"N P, pass through the bottom plate B, of cylinder A,

and have their ends, inside of this cylinder, connected by a fine platinum wire, 0. ,These wires are the positive and negative poles of -a galvanic circuit, and are insulated from the cylinderhead B, by the glass tubes f f, through which they pass.

When a current of electricity is sent through the wires, the platinum, 0, will become highly heated, and ignite any explosive gas in the chamber below the piston D.

Having described, in detail, one of the simplest forms of apparatus adapted for carrying into effect my invention, 1 will describe its operation Let it be supposed, for illustration, that the pipe S leads to the valve-chest of an engine, of any of the well-known forms, and the pipe S leads to the. exhaust-chamber of such engine. Thegovernor of the engine may be connected to throttle-valve in pipe S,

in precisely the same manner as governors are connected to the thrcttle-valves. ii. .1. pipe leading from. the steam-dome of a steam-boiler. There should also be a galvanic battery,-or its equivalent, having the wires N P attached to. it, with suitable circuit-breakers and closers, controlled by motion derived from the engine, in any suitable manner; There should also be an air-pump, worked by the engine, for the purpose of forcing air through a chamber containing gasoline, benzine, or any other of the highly-inflammable hydrocarbon fluids, which chamber should communicate with thecylinder A, by means of the pipe A.

It is well. known, that if eight volumes of atmos pheric air be mixed with one volume of oxygen, or of carburetted-hydrogen gas, the mixture becomes highly explosive, and may be ignited bya spark of electricity,-

or bya platinum wire heated to a red heat, by the passage of a current of electricity through it.

The gas obtained as above described, or in any other suitable manner, is forced, in suitable proportions, into the chamber A, below the piston D, and there mixed with atmospheric air. This mixture is then exploded by heatingthe wire '0, and by the expansion which results, the pistons D and G will be forced up to the positions indicated in fig. 3. y

The resistance which is met with during this ascent of the pistons, will be the air which is above the pist'on G, in cylinder H, which air will be forced into the chamber P, and prevented from returning by the shutting of valve 11., immediately the upward impulse given to the pistons ceases.

Immediately after the explosion, and during the ascent of piston D, valves j j will be opened, to allow air trom the chest J to rush into the cylinder H, through pipes F, and supply the vacuum in the cylinder beneath the piston G.

Just before the pistons reach the termination of their zip-stroke, or simultaneously with their reaching this point, the valve E will be arrested by the studs g, and the'chamber below the piston D willbe put in communication with the external air, by means of the saw 2 l tubular piston-rod D, and its apertures i, as shown in fig. 3, thus removing allpressure beneath the piston D, and allowing valves a and jj to shut.

The pistons will-then-descend to thei lowest points,

be shut, and held down upon its seat, by the expansive force of the air condensed in chamber P, valve It will open and allow air to rush into cylinder H, above air which was drawn into cylinder H below its piston of pipes O G, into the chamber beneath piston D. During the descending-stroke of the pistons D G, the product of combustion, and also the superfluity of hollow portion of the piston-rod, the apertures i in which will not be closed by valve E, until!'the pistons arrive at or near the termination of their down-stroke,

shown in fig. 2. When the pistons have descended to their lowest points, the mixtureof air and gas, which is introduced into the cylinder A, is again exploded, by the heating of wire 0, and the same operations, as above described,

chest J, take place. A

It will be seen, from the above description, that I employ the explosive-three of a mixture of gas anil air for-the purpose of compressed air in a chamber, from which it can be taken in the same manner as steam is taken, from the steam-dome of a steam-boiler, for driving an engine.

inder H, above the piston G, serves as an elastic cushsions which would otherwise occur, by the sudden expansion of the'ignited gas in the cylinder A.

It will'also be seen, that during the ascent of the pistons, and the compression of air in the chamber.P,

is in communication, with the exhaust-port of the engine, pressure from one side of the piston will be more 1 or less removed, simultaneously with the application of pressure to its opposite side, by which means a greater force will be applied to operate the engine than if it-exhausted in the open air.

of every ascending-stroke of the pistons, the explosionchamber is allowed to exhaust, into the openair, and that during every descending-stroke thereof, a current of air is forced through said chamber, which will carry off the soot resulting from combustion, and at the same time cool the cylinder A, and its piston D.

I have thus described the construction and opera; tion of one form of single-acting motor, but in carrysary, employ a double-acting motor, consisting of two gether, in such manner as to operate alternately upon a piston, or pump, for compressing air into a suitable receiver. y

Under such arrangement, both of the cylinders A above referred to will be supplied with gas and air, and also with electrical igniters, substantially as described for the single-acting motor; 1

For the purpose of supplying gas to the combustionchamber of cylinder A, in regular given quantities, and at proper times, a slide-valve, worked by the engine, may be applied to the inlet-pipe a, and operated 'in harmony with the pump which forces the gas into said chamber.

Having described one practical mode of carrying my invention into efiect,

Whatl claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The application of the force generated by the 6!- by their'own gravity, and while'doing so, valve n mll' the piston G, and valves e 0 will open and allow the G, during the ascent of the latter, to escape by way air, will .be .blown out of the cylinder A, through the of compressed air in chamber P, and exhausting fi'om ltwill also be seen that the air which is in the cylion for the pistons, and prevents the injurious eoncus=' the piston G will exhaust air from the chest J, and" tend'to produce a vacuum therein, and, as this cheat It will furthermore be seen, that at the termination I ing out my invention, I shall, whenever found necescylinders A, having their piston-rods connected topios ion of gases through mechanism, substantially as described.

2. A vacuum-chest, S, communicating with the cylinder H, of an air-compressing piston, through mechanism whichis operated substantially as described.

3. A pipe, or pipes, 0, leading from cylinder H to cylinder A, and provided with valves, which will allow air fi'om the said cylinder H to enter the combustiom chamber during the descentof the piston G, combined and arranged substantially as described.

4. Theoombination of chambers A, H, and P, the connected pistons D G and their a iaries, adapted to-operate substantially as described.

1 5. The arrangement of the slide-valve. E, and perforated hollow piston-rod D, substantially as described.

6. The combination of an air-compresser with a vac uum-chest, J and the ignition engine, operating sub stantially as described and set forth.

7. The manner, substantiallyas described, of expelling the products of combustion from the explosioncharriber, after every explosion therein, substantially as specified.

8. The combination of independent air and gas-inlet pipes with the cylinder A, an electrical ignite'r, a, and an air-compresser,substantially as described.

' J OHN B. ATWATER.

Witnesses:

J. N. CAMPBELL, R. '1. Omnnnn. 

